


Symphony Number 7

by rhysandsdarling



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Comfort/Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, One-Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 20:19:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7546369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhysandsdarling/pseuds/rhysandsdarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From Rhys's POV when he send the music down to Feyre in ACOTAR.</p><p>All characters and dialogue belong to the legendary Sarah J Maas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Symphony Number 7

Feyre was shattering, the spider web of cracks throughout her mind straining so hard it was a wonder there was anything left at all. I no longer had to force her to drink every evening. She did not move or speak when in her cell, just lay there and let her hallucinations take hold. You wouldn’t have needed the ability to break into people’s minds to see that she had given up.

It infuriated me. A darkness, not unlike the one that emanated from me at the thought, was settling in, a cold that went right through to the marrow of her bones. There was no part of her left for me to even reach out to.

I had no idea what to do, how to stop her from losing her spirit. If circumstances had been different, I would have swept her up in my arm and kissed her all over until the tears had stopped. I would touch her and stroke her until she could manage a small smile, until she no longer felt alone. But she wished so hard for Tamlin that it burned through her, for his arms to be around her. No, if I wanted to help, she couldn’t know it was me. But I needed to do something before the pieces of her mind scattered so far apart that they would be impossible to put back together. Feyre would become an empty shell, any embers of her wildfire turned to ash. The fight in her that had once made my knees and the mountains tremble.

No, Feyre had to believe that Tamlin was there for her. That Tamlin was resisting the cruelty of this court as much as she was. That she would win because nothing could snuff out that fire of love. Even if it was spluttering in the wind, and I wanted nothing more than to be the final breath that turned it to smoke, it was what was keeping her alive.

It made me wild that she didn’t see that Tamlin was doing nothing. Absolutely nothing, besides sitting on his arrogant ass feigning indifference, while Feyre faced death to be with him. Tamlin’s heart of stone was not only literal.

I remembered flashes of Feyre on Summer Solstice, the wildfire inside her so bright and colourful and she danced for Tamlin. I had gone the next day with the pretence of threatening Tamlin, my real end goal to see Feyre and scare her into leaving Prythian. I had to supress other memories from that visit.

Music. It was a kindling I knew worked and one they Feyre would believe was from Tamlin. Feyre was so caught up in keeping her mind together, even though it was slipping away like water cupped in her hands. If I could distract her long enough, and remind her that she wasn’t alone in her suffering, then maybe she would stop idly watching that water drip through her fingers and hold on. For my sanity just as much as hers.

Memories of my favourite songs sped through my mind, sifting through them in a desperate hurry to find the perfect one. Before she was gone forever.

My mind conjured up a piece I had heard in Velaris, on Mor’s first Starfall. It was a piece that despite the sorrow and grief, there was an unending strength in the sounds. It reminded me of a phoenix rising from its ashes once more. It reminded me that no matter how broken something became, it could be rebuilt, as long as you had the guts to try.

I felt out for Feyre again, recoiling at the whisper that her thoughts had become. I projected the song to her, remembering its slow starting build, holding my breath as I waited for her to notice.

As the music built and swelled, so did Feyre’s thoughts. They sharpened with every beat, her heart syncing to the rhythm. As cymbals crashed and brass blared, Feyre began to feel again. She let that wall that was trying so desperately to keep herself intact, not break, but lift. She opened the floodgates and let everything pour out, let herself feel. Great big icebergs began to thaw, frozen in an attempt to keep her dam from overflowing. There was more emotion there than I thought possible for a human to feel.

It made sense – their lives were so brief that they had to fit an eternity of feelings into only a few years. Sometimes I thought it was a gift, the knowledge that one day all suffering would end. Right now it felt like drowning.

I felt something reach out – the ghost of a touch but softer than anything I had ever felt. I opened my mind and let that feather in. I imagined the Night Court, the endless space of mountain ranges obscuring the setting sun. I let her see a moment of peace and freedom, led her out of the mountain to stand on top and conquer it. I reminded her of the world outside and the joy that was in it.

As the flood slowed to a stream I felt her spark intact. It had been shielded from the water threatening to douse it, as its warmth heated its icy prison. It thrummed with his name as she let it build. _Tamlin, Tamlin, Tamlin._

I sent that music down to her lift her up and give her hope, and every thought she had was only for him _._

The music that was a lighthouse for her became an anthem of pain and suffering and sacrifice for me. The score as I watched the love of my life walk away from me, without even a glance back, and I had been the one to push her away.

The love of my life. We had another word for that connection above the wall, but I hadn’t allowed myself to consider the possibility. If anyone had the same suspicion as me, Feyre was good as dead. I would watch her leave me a million times over before I watched her die.

Cauldron save me.

But underneath it all, that original spark – it sang a completely different song. _Freedom._

Feyre wasn’t going to break. She couldn’t because if she did, I knew I certainly would. Then there would be no Under the Mountain to break free from, or even world to return to.

A world that I needed to keep intact so I could one day show her all of its beauty.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't get this out of my head, especially seeing that Sarah J. Maas said it was Beethoven's Symphony number 7 that was the song. I love feysand.
> 
> Also, thank you so so so much for reading. I hoped you enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Please leave kudos or comments if you liked it! It is the best encouragement to keep me writing. I'll also happily take any requests, message me on my tumblr: rhysands-darling.tumblr.com.


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